Lives of Scripture

Abimelech was Gideon's son by a concubine from Shechem (Judges 8:31). After Gideon's death, he persuaded Shechem's leaders to back him as king, then used their silver to hire reckless men and murdered sixty-nine of his seventy brothers on one stone, all but the youngest, Jotham, who escaped and hid (9:1-5). Jotham publicly denounced Shechem with a parable of trees choosing a worthless bramble as king, warning that fire would consume both Abimelech and Shechem if their alliance was not made in good faith (9:7-20). God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and Shechem's leaders, and the city rebelled under Gaal; Abimelech crushed the revolt, destroyed Shechem, sowed it with salt, and burned a thousand people alive who had barricaded themselves in the temple of El-berith (9:22-49). Pressing his campaign to Thebez, he besieged a fortified tower there, but as he approached to burn its door, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and crushed his skull. Mortally wounded, he ordered his armor-bearer to run him through so it would not be said a woman killed him, and he died (9:50-54). Scripture states plainly that both his crime against his brothers and Shechem's treachery were repaid by God exactly as Jotham had cursed (9:56-57).